“If Ruturaj Gaikwad gets 5 games straight, he can show his class in international cricket too,” Robin Uthappa wants his CSK teammate to be given a long run for India

• Robin Uthappa is of the view if his CSK opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad gets regular opportunities to play for the Indian team as he got at CSK, he can show his class at the international level too.

According to Uthappa, who was speaking in an event of Sony Television Network, IPL is the best T20 tournament in the world because of the international and local talent that’s there. If Ruturaj has shown his potential in IPL, there is no reason he can’t do it in international cricket, but he needs to be given regular opportunities to find his feet.

Robin Uthappa recalled the fact that when Ruturaj had made his debut for CSK, he hadn’t flourished straightaway. It had taken him a few games to find his feet, but CSK didn’t lose faith in him during that period and gave him regular opportunities. That’s something which needs to be done by the Indian team management as well.

Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn’t got a long run for India yet

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been selected in the Indian team after his heroics in the IPL and his consistency in domestic cricket, but he hasn’t really had a long run of games yet. The only series where Ruturaj got a decently long run of games was the T20I series against South Africa where he played all 5 games and scored a half-century.

The right hander is, however, yet to make his debut in ODI cricket. He was supposed to play his first ODI game for India on the tour of Zimbabwe, but with KL Rahul returning to the side now, there might not be any space at the top of the order if Rahul decides to open the batting. If Rahul plays at no. 5, then Ruturaj might be picked in the playing XI.

My playing XI today according to their batting order:

Shikhar Dhawan
Shubman Gill
Ruturaj Gaekwad
K L Rahul (C)
Deepak Hooda
Sanju Samson (wk)
Axar Patel
Shardul Thakur
Deepak Chahar
Kuldeep Yadav
Avesh Khan

Siraj might play ahead of Deepak Chahar or Shardul Thakur.#INDvsZIM

— Biraj Raha (Ved) (@TheDravid_Fan) August 18, 2022

The Indian team management will definitely persist with Shubman Gill who scored two half-centuries in the ODI series against West Indies and was named the player of the series there.